Singing in the Voice of change

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The music of Vusi Mahlasela tells South Africas recent history, says Jane Cornwell

There’s a light inside Vusi Mahlasela, a South African critic once said. The kind of light particular to great protest singers — Marvin Gaye, Woody Guthrie, the young Bob Dylan — intent on fighting injustice and oppression with music. Back in the 1980s, in the dark days of apartheid, Mahlasela’s big, affable presence was a constant at rallies and cultural events.

The lyrics that he sang in English and South African dialects, in a voice that swooped from growling baritone to pure falsetto, articulated the political ideals of the anti-apartheid movement. He was harassed and incarcerated. The police confiscated his